


An Aurora Grove Christmas

by dandelionfairies



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, American Louis, British Harry, Christmas, Family, First Meetings, Harry is an event planner, Louis is a mechanic, M/M, friends - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:04:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21624772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dandelionfairies/pseuds/dandelionfairies
Summary: Harry gets lost on his way to St. Louis.  The roads are horrid because of the snow and he ends up spinning into a ditch.  Lucky for him, he finds a cabin nearby, as well as a cute blue-eyed man who immediately helps him.  Unfortunately, his car is stuck for the night, but at least he has a place to stay with Louis.  With the snow continuing to fall and another storm front coming through, will he ever make it out of Aurora Grove?  Does he even want to?
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan/Liam Payne
Comments: 27
Kudos: 171
Collections: 1D Christmas Fest





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 1dchristmasfest! Very excited about it. Hope you all enjoy.
> 
> Original Prompt: Your car slid into a snowbank and I’m the mechanic that comes to tow you.
> 
> Moodboard/Fic Cover made by me. Manip within made by [whenthebodiesspeak](https://whenthebodiesspeak.tumblr.com/) <3

Harry isn’t sure where he’s at or how much farther he has to go to finally get to his destination. He should probably pull over and look at his map again. Of course, he should also find somewhere to stop to talk to someone. He’s pretty sure he made a wrong turn somewhere. He should have stopped at that point. However, he thought he could find his way back onto the main road. He didn't…

It doesn't help now that the snow and wind have picked up. Why'd he move here again? Okay, but where he lives he doesn't need to drive like this. He lives in the city. 

He goes to slow down because he's having difficulty seeing. However, when he taps the brakes, the car fishtails. He grips the wheel tighter.

"No…" He lets out a panicked noise as he loses complete control of the car. He isn't sure why, but he closes his eyes as the car spins into the ditch. 

Harry checks himself over before climbing from the wrecked car. "Great," he mutters. He looks both ways down the road only to see darkness. He zips his coat the test of the way, trying to figure out what to do. He has no idea where he is, so he isn't sure where to even start walking.

"There's nothing behind, so go forward." Harry walks back to his car to grab his stocking cap he'd tossed in the passenger seat.

As he begins walking, he keeps his hands tucked into his pockets. Why’d he have to pick the coldest time of the year to travel like this? Right, it hadn’t been planned. After what he’s gone through over the last couple of weeks, he needed to get away. He should have flown, but he wanted to be able to clear his head. 

He isn’t sure how long he’s been walking when he finally sees what appears to be a driveway. “Thank God,” he mutters when he sees a cabin come into view. He curls into himself again as he turns to walk toward the door. If he wasn’t so cold, he’d probably think twice about knocking on a stranger’s door out in the middle of nowhere.

As Harry reaches the front door, he notices a pile of blankets and pillows on the small porch. He frowns a little when he realizes there’s also a mattress. He’s not sure what to make of it. However, it looks like something he’d do, so who is he to judge? He shivers as the wind picks up slightly. He reaches up, knocking on the door. He shoves his hands back into his pockets again as he waits for someone to answer. He just hopes whoever lives here can help him in some way. He jumps a little when the door opens quickly. As he lifts his head again, his gaze meets the bluest eyes he’s ever seen.

“Can I help you?” the man standing there asks.

“Um…” Harry clears his throat. “Sorry to bother you. I um…” He gestures behind him. “I was just wondering if I could use a phone? I don’t have service and I need to call someone about my car. It’s stuck in a ditch down the road.”

The man frowns. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“No. I’m okay. Cold. I…”

“Come in.” 

Harry frowns a little but doesn’t argue. He can feel the warmth immediately wrap around him. “I just need a phone and a number for a tow truck or something. I don’t know. I’m not sure if there’s any actual damage to the car.” His frown deepens as he watches the man pull on a coat.

“I’ll take a look. Your lucky day considering you were just in an accident. I happen to have a tow truck.”

“Oh, I couldn’t ask…” Harry shakes his head.

“It’s fine.” The blue-eyed man points to Harry’s right. “Take off your boots and grab yourself a seat with a blanket.”

Harry frowns again. “Um…”

“Your lips are blue. You need to warm yourself up, Mr…?”

“Harry. Um… Styles. Harry Styles.”

The man nods. “Make yourself at home, Mr. Styles.”

Before Harry can say anything else, the man is walking outside and closing the door behind him. Harry stares at the closed door. Did that just happen? Did a complete stranger just leave him in his house? It does feel nice in the warm cabin. He finally slips out of his boots before walking over to the couch. He grabs the blanket from the back and wraps it around his shoulders. Instead of sitting down, however, he walks over to where he sees several pictures hanging on the wall. One looks to be a family picture. He has to wonder how they’re all related. He smiles as he moves over to one of the blue-eyed man with two younger kids where he’s making a silly face.

Harry finally moves over to sit down on the couch. He curls down, pulling the blanket tighter around him. It’s as he’s doing this that he sees a child’s drawing on the table in front of him. He takes a closer look at it, raising an eyebrow when he sees the word Achoo scrawled across the top.

He looks around the room, smiling at the lit Christmas tree. He’s always loved this time of year. This is the first year he won’t be with his Mum and sister for the holiday. He’d gone back home last year. This year he had made plans to go with Keith to visit his family in New York. But that fell through weeks ago. By then both Anne and Gemma had made plans elsewhere.

Harry looks over when he hears the door open again a few minutes later, standing at the sight of the man walking back in. “Is it bad?” he asks. “I’m sorry, I never got your name.” He watches as the man sets his bags down, not sure what to think about this.

“My fault. It’s Louis. Louis Tomlinson.” Louis pulls his gloves off. “I can’t tell for sure how bad it is. I wasn’t able to get it out of the ditch yet. I’ll have to wait until the morning when I can get some help. Looks like you’re stuck here for the night.”

Harry nods. “Um… well, where’s here?”

“Aurora Grove.” Louis chuckles at the look on Harry’s face. “Iowa.”

“Iowa?” Harry runs a hand through his hair. “I really got myself lost. Um… is there a hotel or something nearby?”

Louis nods. “There’s a nice little inn in town. But it’s less than a week before Christmas. It’s full.”

“Of course it is.” He sits down again and lets out a heavy breath. “Well, um…”

“It’s not much, but you can stay here.”

“Oh, no. I couldn’t impose.”

Louis waves him off. “Not imposing. Warming up at all?”

“I am. You sure you don’t mind me staying?”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I minded.” He gestures around. “Make yourself at home. You still look pretty chilled. I’ll get a fire started too. Umm… you can also grab a shower or bath if you want.”

Harry stares at Louis, smiling softly. “A fire sounds nice. So does soaking in a nice hot bath.”

Louis smiles. “You go soak, the fire will be going when you come out.” He holds a hand up. “Don’t ask me if I’m sure. I am. Follow me. I’ll show you where everything is.”

  
Before Harry can make a move to grab his bags, Louis has them once again. He lets out a soft breath as he folds the blanket up and puts it over the back of the couch. “I really appreciate this.” He follows Louis down the small hall. He’s surprised when they walk into what appears to be the master bedroom.

“Not a problem,” Louis says as he sets Harry’s bags on the bed. “Tub in here is much better than in the other bathroom. He walks to the bathroom, flipping the light on. “Towels are in the closet. Um… take a look around if you need anything else. And take your time. Hollar if you need anything.”

Harry nods. “Thank you, Louis. I don’t know why you’re being so nice.”

Louis frowns as he looks at Harry. “You needed help.” He shrugs. “Enjoy your bath.”

Harry isn’t sure how long he’d been relaxing in the bath when he decides it’s time to get out. The water has started to cool and it wasn’t comfortable any longer. He dresses in a pair of sweats and a longsleeved shirt before he walks back to the living room. He stops when he sees Louis smiling at his phone screen. He quickly realizes he’s on a video call.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Bye, Achoo!”

Louis sets his phone to the side a moment later. He smiles when he notices Harry standing there. “Hey. Enjoy your bath?”

“I did.” Harry nods. “Thank you. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed one like that, actually. I have a nice tub back at home and… I don’t think I’ve ever used it.”

“You should change that. So based on the accent, home isn’t here. Or is it?”

“I live in Chicago. I’m from a small town in England. Holmes Chapel. I moved here for work.”

Louis motions to the couch. “You can sit.” He watches as Harry does finally approach and sit down. “I haven’t been to Chicago in a few years. While I prefer living out here like this, I do enjoy the city too.”

“Is this where you’re from?”

“Yeah. Born and raised. Family still lives in the house I grew up in actually. Well, some of them.”

Harry raises an eyebrow as he pulls his legs up beside him on the couch. “Some of them?”

“I’m the oldest of seven kids. Lottie and Fiz share a place in town. The other four are still home.”

“Seven? Wow. It’s just me and my sister, Gemma.”

“Lucky for me, I’m quite a bit older, so I didn’t have to be home for all of the craziness. I was already moved out when the younger twins were born. What do you do? For work, I mean. If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I’m an Event Planner.”

“That sounds…” Louis frowns. “What do you do exactly? It should be obvious. I mean, like I know you plan events. But… I can imagine it’s much more than that?

Harry laughs softly as he looks at the fire. “It is. It’s a very personal job. You have to get to know your client. Sometimes you spend more time with your clients than you do your own friends and family.”

“You like it?”

He shrugs. “I’m good at it.”

“I didn’t ask that. You don’t like it?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just…” He looks over at Louis. “When I first got into it, I had these visions of what I wanted to do with it.”

“And what you’re doing now isn’t what you wanted?”

“Not really. I mean, the company I work for is great. I’ve learned a lot from them. I moved across the ocean for this company. I wouldn’t do that for just anyone. That being said, I took the new position with the understanding I would get to work with more of what I wanted.”

“Which is what?”

“I want to do more with weddings or parties in that aspect. I’ve worked a couple of kids parties that I would love to do again. Maybe not so much in the aspect I did for these. But just in general.”

“And that’s not what you do?”

“No. I’ve been working expos and tradeshows mostly. Which has been a great experience. And I’ve met a lot of great people. Just not what I want.” Harry shrugs. “I guess it’s partly my fault. I didn’t stand up for myself. I don’t know. Things have been tense lately, though. I don’t know. Maybe I should talk to them again.”

“Couldn’t hurt.”

Harry is surprised when Louis doesn’t question anything about the tension at work. “What about you? I mean, you have a tow truck, so I’m guessing here.”

Louis smiles. “I’m a mechanic. A buddy of mine and I run the garage in town.”

Harry lets his gaze fall to Louis’ hands, biting his bottom lip. It isn’t the first time he’d noticed his hands. But he can’t help himself. Had he not been so cold when he’d first seen Louis, he probably would have dropped from weak knees. The man is perfect. Well, almost perfect. He’s not entirely sure if Louis is gay or not. Sure, he’s gotten a vibe from him, but that doesn’t always mean anything. Besides, even if he is gay, he probably wouldn’t be interested in someone like Harry. Especially when he learns Harry prefers to bottom. It was a major issue in his last relationship because his ex had been shorter than him. He never understood Keith’s problem with that.

“So where are you heading to?”

“St. Louis. Needed to get away for a bit. Had some vacation time and the office is closed next week, so I thought why not?”

“St. Louis… from Chicago?” Louis covers his mouth trying to hold back his laugh.

“And I ended up in Aurora Grove, Iowa. I told you, I got myself turned around.”

“Apparently. Did you need to get a hold of anyone to let them know?”

Harry shakes his head. “No.” Truth is he probably should call his best friend. But he can’t bring himself to do so just yet. “No one’s expecting me anywhere really. I’ll call Kacey tomorrow.”

Louis nods. “Are you hungry or thirsty? Like I said, help yourself to anything you find.”

Harry smiles. “Thank you. I really appreciate you for letting me stay. With things I deal with on a daily basis, I tend to forget there are still good people like you in the world.” He shrugs a little. “It’s just nice to see. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“There’s nothing to make up.” 

“Can I ask you a question?” He watches Louis closely.

“Of course.” 

Harry gestures toward the children’s drawings that are still on the coffee table. “Achoo?”

Louis laughs softly. “My little brother and sister, Ernie and Doris. When they were younger, I used to play this silly game. I would pretend to sneeze ridiculously loud and call out achoo as I did. They couldn’t say Louis when they were learning to talk and I became Achoo.”

Harry smiles widely at that. “That’s adorable.” He watches Louis push the sleeves of his shirt up his arms, revealing even more tattoos. He looks away quickly, not wanting to get caught checking Louis out. He shifts a little as he turns his attention toward the fire.

“I probably should have asked before I allowed you into my house, but you aren’t running from the cops or anything, are you?”

Harry has to laugh at the question. He looks over at Louis. “I’m not.”

“Okay.” Louis reaches over and hits Harry’s arm lightly. “When was the last time you ate? I’m no master chef or anything, but I can make a mean taco.”

As Harry’s bout to answer, he can’t. He honestly doesn’t remember when he ate. “Before I left Chicago. I don’t want to…”

“Do you like tacos?”

“Yes, but…”

“Tacos coming up.”

Harry smiles as he watches Louis stand up. “Can I at least help with something?”

“You can keep me company in the kitchen.”

Harry stands and follows Louis into the kitchen. He steps over to sit at the counter. “Did you build this place?”

“Physically? No. But I had it built for me. And I worked with them on the layout.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t seem the type to have a want or need for a jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom.”

Louis laughs softly as he pulls the package of meat from the fridge. “You’d be correct. However, I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic. Someday, I want to spoil my partner.” He shrugs. “You’re the first person outside of my little brother and sister to actually use it.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Um… it was two years back in October.”

“No one special?”

“No.” He shrugs. “Nothing worthwhile. What about you?”

Harry snorts. “My boyfriend of three years walked out on me the same day I lost a big client at work.”

Louis frowns. “I’m sorry.”

“We had been having some issues. I thought we were getting past them. Apparently, he didn’t. Found himself another bed to fall into.” He watches as Louis’ shirt lifts up enough to expose some skin as he reaches up into a cabinet. “You know, it’s not even that he cheated that bothered me the most. It was the who he was with that hurt worse. I’m sorry, you don’t want to hear this.”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind.” Louis gives Harry a small smile. “Who was he with?”

“The receptionist at my office. Not even just any receptionist. It’s the same receptionist that tried having me fired on multiple occasions.”

“For what?”

“Which answer do you want? She always came up with something. I was always late. I never answered my messages. I would turn people away if she brought them back. All ridiculous. But not the real reason though.”

“No?”

Harry shakes his head. “She made it very known how she felt about me being gay.” He lifts his head quickly when he realizes that he’s just been talking about his ex and being gay. “I’m sorry. If you…”

“I’m gay, Harry. Nothing to worry about here.”

He smiles and nods. “Okay.”

Once they have their food, they head back to the living room. Harry can’t help but watch the fire as he starts eating.

“You can take my room,” Louis says. “With the weather, I’m liable to be up and down with phone calls all night.”

Harry frowns over at him. “No, I can’t do that. Where would you sleep then?”

“The other bedroom. Or right here.”

“No, I can’t let you do that.”

“Hell, I can just sleep out on the mattress outside.”

“No!” Harry stares wide-eyed at him. “You can’t do that.”

Louis laughs softly. “I’m fine out here though. Or in the other bedroom.”

“So am I. I’m not letting you give up your bed.” He gestures toward the front door. “I do have to ask about the bed on the porch?”

“It’s been a tradition for me and two of my sisters to watch the first snowfall together. They always complained about being cold while we would sit outside. So that actually started at my Mom’s house. We would lay in the back all bundled up. When I moved here, we moved the tradition here. I thought it would be the perfect spot for it. It’s actually an air mattress. So I’ll pull it out after the new year.”

“Sounds like you’re really close with all your siblings.”

“We are. It’s different because of the age difference, but I’d do anything for them.”

“How big is the age difference? I’m sorry, that’s horrible of me to ask.

  
“Nonsense.” Louis waves him off. “I’m twenty-seven, Lottie is twenty-one, Fiz is eighteen, Daisy and Phoebe are fifteen, and Ernie and Doris are five.”

“Wow.”

“I wouldn’t change it, honestly. I love our crazy family. You said it’s just you and your sister?”

“Yeah. She’s a couple of years older than me. We’re close. This is actually the first year I won’t be home for Christmas.”

“Oh?”

“I was supposed to be in New York with Keith’s family. Mum and Gemma had made other plans by the time he left.” He shrugs. “I told them not to change them. It’s just going to be weird. I’ll be fine though.”

  
“So you’ll be alone for Christmas?”

“I guess so.”

* * *

  
  
Louis walks out of his room the next morning as he waits for Liam to answer his phone. He frowns when he hears sounds from the kitchen. He walks into the room, smiling at the sight of Harry standing at the stove.

“Morning,” he says.

Harry looks back and smiles. “Morning. I hope you don’t mind? I just… I wanted to make you breakfast.”

“That’s fine.”

“Tommo, hang on.”

Louis rolls his eyes at the sound of Niall’s voice. “Where’s Liam?”

“Where you probably are,” Niall answers. “Outside smoking.”

“I’m not, actually. Jackass.” He watches Harry turn his attention back to the pan on the stove. “You didn’t have to make me breakfast, though. It’s appreciated.”

“Breakfast?” Niall asks. “Who’s making you breakfast?”

“Will you put Liam on the phone before I send the twins over?”

“Liam!”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Fucker.” He leans against the counter. “Did you find everything okay?”

Harry nods. “I did.”

“Louis, hey,” Liam answers.

“Hey, what are you doing this morning?”

“Hopefully working on Fred’s truck. As long as the parts are waiting for me. Why what’s up?”

“I need help getting a car out of a ditch.”

“What? Louis, are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?”

“Liam, stop. I’m fine. It wasn’t me. And they’re fine.”

“Are they there? Louis, are you insane? You let a complete stranger stay at your house? You’ve completely lost your mind. That has to be it. Niall! This idiot let some stranger stay at his house.”

Louis rolls his eyes as he listens to them go back and forth about this. “Are you two done yet?”

“What if he’s some deranged killer or something?”

Louis snorts. “Pretty sure if he was going to kill me, he would have done so the second I opened the door. Well, maybe not then. But the moment he warmed up at least.” He looks over at Harry quickly at the sound of his cackle.

Harry’s eyes widen as he slaps his hand over his mouth. He stares at Louis then.

“What the fuck was that?” Liam asks.

“That would be my deranged killer guest reacting to what he just heard,” Louis answers with a smile. “Liam, can you be here in an hour?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there. Louis, just… be careful. We’re just looking out for you.”

“I know. And thank you. I’ll see you in a bit.” Louis sets his phone to the side after they say their goodbyes.

“I’m sorry,” Harry says quickly. “I didn’t mean…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Louis smiles. “It’s okay.”

Harry nods slowly. “Okay.” He smiles over at Louis. “I’m assuming since you had all these ingredients, you like what I’m making.”

“I’m not a picky eater.” Louis shrugs. “I just suck at the cooking part.”

“You can’t be that bad. I had your tacos last night. They were really good.”

“Trust me, that’s about as good as it gets. Every year for family Christmas, everyone is supposed to bring a dish to contribute. It’s per household usually. Just really depends on what you bring. I bring the wine because no one wants to eat anything I make.”

“That’s horrible.” Harry laughs softly. “Well, I was happy to eat what you made last night.”

Louis smiles as he watches Harry plate the omelets. “Those look amazing. You should be a chef instead of an event planner.”

Harry shakes his head. “I could never do that. I would end up in tears.”

“What? Why?”

“The stress of it all.”

“You’re an event planner. I can imagine how stressful that is.” Louis sits down at the table with Harry.

“It definitely can be, sure. But with what I do, I can also step away for a bit. I figure being in a kitchen you wouldn’t be able to do that.”

“Okay, good point.” He stares at Harry after taking a bite of his eggs. “This is the best fucking omelet I’ve ever had.” He points at his guest. “Don’t tell my mother that.”

Harry grins. “I won’t tell your mother.”

Louis walks out of his room after he dresses in his snow gear. He smiles at the sight of Harry sitting on the couch with a book in his hands. “Want me to get the fire started again?” he asks.

Harry looks over. “No, thanks.” He smiles. “Appreciate the offer though. Um… do you mind if I go with you to get my car? I just… want to be there for the bad news.”

“Well, hopefully, it won’t be bad news, but of course you can. Come on. Liam texted and said to just tell him where the car is and he’ll meet me there.” He stands by the door as he waits for Harry to pulls his boots and coat on. 

“Sorry, I’m ready.”

When Louis pulls to a stop near the snow-covered car in the ditch, he sees Liam’s truck parked across the street. He slides out, glancing over to see Harry doing the same. As he walks around the front of his truck, he sees Liam crossing the street.

“Hey,” Liam says.

Louis gives his friend a quick hug. “Hey, thanks for coming out.”

“Any time.” 

Louis gestures over to the other man. “This is Harry. Harry, this is Liam. He’s my buddy that I run the garage with.”

Harry steps over and shakes Liam’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Liam. Thank you for coming out here in the cold.”

Liam smiles at the man. “Well, don’t thank me yet. Not until we can actually get your car out of the ditch.” He hits Harry’s arm gently with a laugh. “Come on, Boo Bear. Let’s get to work.”

“Call me that again, Liam,” Louis mutters. He throws a quick look over at Harry before he walks down into the ditch. 

“Poor, Boo Bear.”

“Fuck off.” Louis snorts as he drops down into the snow to try to get a better look under the car. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Harry standing at the top of the ditch. It makes it difficult to concentrate, but he somehow manages.

Louis stops when he reaches Harry after they get the car out of the ditch and correctly hooked to the tow truck. “Once we get it back to the garage, I’ll know more.”

Harry nods as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Okay. What can you tell me now?” he asks.

“It’s cold.”

“Lou, come on.” Harry smacks his stomach lightly but can’t hide his smile. “Tell me.”

“There’s some damage. But I don’t know the extent at this point.”

“Okay.” Harry nods. “Okay,” he repeats with a sigh.

Louis gestures toward the truck. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.”

He walks over, opening the passenger door for Harry. “Hop in.” As Harry slides into the vehicle, Louis notices the color on his cheeks. By the way Harry’s acting, it’s more than just the cold. He smiles to himself as he rounds the truck to climb in behind the wheel.

“How long have you been working at the garage?” Harry asks as Louis starts driving toward town.

“Since I was sixteen.” Louis shrugs. “I started as a runner. Worked my way to working on the cars. I knew how to at that point. I’ve been working on cars since I was little. But they couldn’t let me at the shop.”

“And now you run it?”

“Yeah. Um… I guess I should mention my Dad owns it.” He laughs nervously. “That’s not how I got the job. I mean, I guess it kind of is. But… I worked my way up to where I am. Dad wouldn’t just hand me a job like this.”

“Lou, it’s fine.” Harry smiles. “It’s obvious you know what you’re doing. I wouldn’t have even known where to start with getting my car out of the ditch.”

“Yeah, well… I just don’t want to give the wrong impression.”

Louis looks over to where Harry is sitting in the small waiting area of the garage as he lifts the car up. He jumps a little when he feels someone beside him. He frowns as he looks at Liam. Liam raises an eyebrow at him as he gestures over to Harry.

“Something happen?” Liam asks.

Louis rolls his eyes. “No.” He grabs his safety glasses, slipping them on as he walks under the car. “Why would you think that?”

“I’ve seen the looks you two have given each other.”

“Whatever.”

“Louis, what’s going on? Seriously, did something happen?”

“No.” Louis shakes his head as he starts looking at the damage. “I found myself thinking about him all night. I mean…”

“He’s gorgeous?” Liam laughs softly at the way Louis glares at him. 

“It was more than that, though. He’s sweet. There’s this innocence about him. It’s stupid. I don’t even know him and I don’t want him to leave.”

“Not stupid. There’s obviously something. I know I told you to be careful, and I still mean that, but there’s no reason you can’t talk to him.”

Louis sighs. “He lives in Chicago, Li. He wasn’t even just passing through here. He got turned around. He was on his way to St. Louis.”

“It’s this little thing called fate, Tommo.” Liam hits Louis’ stomach lightly. “Call me if you need help with anything. I’ll be under Fred’s truck.”

Louis walks over to the small lobby area after he finishes going over Harry’s car. He stops when he sees Harry on the phone. He stands back, not wanting to interrupt his conversation.

“Kacey, I’ll call you later,” Harry says when he sees Louis standing there. “Kace, get real.” He rolls his eyes as he stands up. “I will. Love you.” He ends the call and steps over to Louis. “How bad is it?”

Louis’ heart drops when he hears Harry tell whoever he’s talking to that he loves them. He shouldn’t feel like this, but he does. “Guess it depends on how you look at it.” Louis shrugs. “You aren’t going anywhere for another night at least. I have to order some parts. Normally I can get them overnight, but with the weather, I can’t guarantee it.”

Harry sighs. “Okay. Do you have an estimate on how much it’ll cost?”

“Not yet. I can have something ready for you in a few minutes, though. I’m sorry, Harry. I wish I had better news.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s mine, honestly. I should have flown. It would have been smarter. Okay, so what does one do during the holidays in Aurora Grove, Iowa?”

Louis grins. “Oh, there’s plenty. If you walk the main drag, you’ll see all the shop windows. They all decorate.”

“Oh, I’d love to see that. Point me in the right direction?”

“Of course. But only after we exchange numbers.”

“That sounds good.” Harry pulls his phone from his pocket. “Here, put your number in.”

Louis takes the phone, adding his number before handing it back to Harry. “There you go.”

“I’ll text you now. That way you have my number too.” Harry smiles after sending the message. “There you go.”

Louis smiles. “Great. My phone is over on my toolbox. So I’ll grab it when I go back over.” He gestures toward the door. “I’ll lead you to downtown.” He waits for Harry to pull his coat on once again before they walk outside.

“You’re going to freeze,” Harry mutters.

Louis shrugs. “I’m only out here for a second.” He points to his left. “At the stop sign take a right. That’s downtown. Shops will start about a block over. I’ll get an estimate ready for you before I see you again. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call.”

Harry nods. “Okay. Thank you.”

“And I am sorry I couldn’t give you better news.”

“It’s not your fault. I appreciate all your help.”

Louis slams the phone down after ending his call with the parts office. It’s definitely not what he wanted to hear. Sure, they promised to do the best that they could. Deep down, he’s slightly thrilled, because it means Harry will be here longer. But he doesn’t want to keep Harry from his plans.

“What’d they say?” Liam asks from the open door.

“They’re snowed in. Not sure they’ll be able to get anything out tomorrow. At this point, they don’t know if they’ll get anything out before Christmas.”

“Ouch. But it means you get to spend more time with your stranger.”

Louis leans back in his chair. “Something tells me he won’t be too happy about it.”

“You never know. Louis, fate.”

“Will you go away with your fate?” Louis laughs softly when Liam makes a funny face before walking back out of the office.

* * *

  
  
Harry waves at the woman behind the counter before he walks out of the shop. He hopes that Louis won’t mind if he bakes tonight. He hadn’t planned on actually baking cookies this holiday season. Of course, he hadn’t planned on being somewhere with an oven. He pulls his phone out so he can text Louis to see if he’d be available to meet for lunch.

“Hey.”

Harry looks up, smiling when he sees Louis approaching. “Hey,” he says. “I was just getting ready to text you. Wanted to see if you were available for lunch?”

Louis smiles. “I am.” He gestures to the bag Harry’s holding. “I see you’ve been busy buying things.”

“Um… yeah, I guess.” He shrugs. “So where do you suggest for lunch?”

“There’s a diner around the corner. Nothing fancy, but they have great food.”

“That works for me.” Harry smiles as they start walking. “How long do you have until you have to be back?”

“Umm… actually, I’m free for the rest of the day.” Louis grins. “Figured, if you’d like, I could show you around a bit. Maybe get you involved with some of the Aurora Grove traditions?”

Harry beams. “That would be great.” He follows Louis into the diner, smiling as he looks around at the decorations. “Wow.”

Louis grins as he walks over to a table by the window. “This okay?”

Harry nods. “Perfect.” He sets his bag down on one of the chairs before slipping out of his coat.

“And there’s my favorite man.”

Harry turns to see a woman wrapping Louis in a hug. He smiles a little, recognizing her from one of the pictures that Louis has hanging on the wall in the living room.

“I’ll be sure to tell Dan that,” Louis says.

“I tell him all the time. And who’s this?”

“This is Harry Styles. He’s stuck here for a couple of days. He was in a car accident last night, ended up in the ditch.”

“Oh dear. Are you okay?”

Harry smiles. “I’m fine. A bit shaken up, but I’m okay. Louis here has been a great help.”

“Good to know. I’m Jay Deakin.”

“Mrs…”

“No Mrs, call me Jay.”

Harry nods. “All right, Jay.”

“I’ll be back to take your orders in a moment.”

Harry looks across at Louis as they sit down. “Your Mum?”

Louis nods. “That would be my Mom.”

“She’s nice.” Harry opens the menu to look over his options. “What do you recommend?”

“Anything to be honest. Can’t go wrong with anything here.” Louis leans back when Jay walks over and sets a glass in front of him. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome,” Jay says with a smile. “What can I get for you, Harry?”

Harry gestures toward Louis’ glass. “What he’s having is fine.”

“You got it. Need another minute to order?”

“I think I’ll have the grilled chicken sandwich.”

“Fries?”

“Please.”

“Your usual, Boo?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Louis wrinkles his nose when Jay leans down and kisses his cheek. “Really, Mom?”

“Yes, really.”

Harry smiles as Jay walks away. “She reminds me of my Mum a little.”

“I hope yours didn’t give you a horrible nickname like Boo Bear.”

“I don’t think it’s a horrible nickname.”

“It is when your best friends start calling you Boo Bear.”

Harry laughs softly. “Okay, fair enough. So what’s your usual?” He gestures toward the kitchen.

“Bacon cheeseburger.”

Jay walks back over, setting Harry’s drink in front of him. “Louis, are you coming tonight?”

Louis nods. “Planning on it. Surprised the girls haven’t been blowing up my phone. Or did they lose their’s again?”

“Your Dad and I made them a promise. If they left their phones at home or in their lockers during the final week, they can go to Stacey’s for New Year’s.”

“Nice.” Louis laughs softly.

“I have your food order in. Shouldn’t be too long.”

Harry takes a sip of his drink. “So, I’m guessing Dan is your stepdad?” he asks after Jay walks away.

Louis nods. “He is. I mean, technically so is the man I call Dad.”

Harry raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“My Dad, Mark, was actually my stepdad. I was six when he married my Mom. Got his name shortly after that. Been a Tomlinson ever since and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He gestures to the bag on the chair beside Harry. “So what’d you buy?”

Harry blushes a little. “Um… well, one of my traditions, that I didn’t think I was going to get to do this year, is to bake and decorate cookies. I bought the stuff I need hoping you’d let me use your kitchen again.”

Louis smiles. “As long as I get a cookie or two, have at it.”

Harry beams. “Of course!” He watches Louis when the other man shifts a little. “What? You look like you want to say something.”

“I talked to my parts guy. Normally they can get me parts overnight as long as they have them in stock.”

“They don’t have what you need?”

“No, they do.”

Harry nods. “They can’t get them here.”

“Not looking like it. They’re going to see how it looks in the morning. But they’re getting hit with we did last night. And there’s another storm rolling through. We’re hoping it waits until after the lights tonight.”

“Lights?”

“Tonight the town lights the tree… well, gazebo too.”

Harry smiles. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. One of the traditions around here. That’s one of the things I was going to bring up to see if you’d be interested in going.”

“I think that would be amazing.”

“Then we’ll go. Just… be prepared to be ambushed with questions by my sisters.”

Harry nods. “I’ll be ready.”

“I’m going to remember you said that. Um… so yeah, we have that going tonight. You can bake when we get back if you want. I don’t know anything about baking, so I don’t know how long you need. But you’ve got all night if you want.”

Harry smiles. “Appreciate that. You definitely don’t need to be doing any of this for me.”

“Nonsense.”

Harry leans back when Jay walks back over with two plates. “Thank you. Wow…” He can’t help but smile once again. “It looks amazing.”

“Enjoy.” She squeezes Louis’ shoulder as she walks by to another table.

* * *

  
  
Louis isn’t surprised when he finds his family right at the front of the gazebo. He smiles as he looks over at Harry. “This way,” he says.

“I’ll follow you,” Harry says. 

Louis nods before slipping ahead of Harry through the small crowd. He smiles when he sees the oldest of the Tomlinson girls dancing with the youngest boy. He glances behind him to make sure Harry is still with him.

“Achoo!”

Louis beams as his youngest sister runs to him. He lifts Doris with ease. “I think you grew since the last time I saw you.” He kisses her cheek repeatedly. “Did you grow?”

Doris giggles. “You’re silly.” Her giggles fade as she looks behind Louis. “Who’s that?”

Louis shifts to let Harry join them fully. “This is my friend, Harry Styles. Harry, this beautiful little girl is my favorite youngest sister, Doris.”

Harry smiles at the young girl. “Hi, Doris.” He watches as she continues to look at him with questioning eyes. 

“You look warm,” Doris says. “You can hold me when it’s time. Achoo can’t keep me warm.”

“Doris,” Jay says with a laugh. “You love when Achoo holds you.”

“Harry bigger!”

Louis snorts. “Not my fault tall doesn’t run in my family.” He kisses Doris’ cheek before setting her down. “You do not have to hold her, Haz.”

Jay steps over, hugging Louis. “I’m glad you could come.” She smiles at Harry before she hugs him as well. “Good seeing you again, Harry.”

“You too, Jay.”

“Sorry, we’re huggers around here.”

“It’s fine. I am too.” 

“These are the other sisters,” Louis says as the other four girls walk over. “Lottie, Fizzy, Daisy, and Phoebe.”

“Girls, behave,” Jay says before walking back over to Dan and Ernest.

“Are you Louis’ new boyfriend?” Daisy asks.

Louis rolls his eyes at his sister. “Harry and I are just friends,” he says.

“Hmm…” She steps closer to Harry. “You aren’t like his last boyfriend. Of course, his last boyfriend wasn’t exactly his type.” Daisy looks at Louis and smiles. “Harry is, though.”

Louis isn’t really surprised by Daisy’s comments. “Daisy…”

“He is.” Daisy shrugs, smiling at Harry. “Better than Nick.” She hooks her arm through Phoebe’s as they walk away.

“They’re very protective of who Louis brings around,” Lottie says. “We all are.” She smiles at Harry. “Don’t worry about them. If they weren’t okay with this, they would have dragged Louis away.”

“Nothing wrong with wanting to protect your brother,” Harry says. “I’m sure he’s the same way when all of you bring someone new around.”

Lottie nods. “Oh, he is.” She smiles at Louis. “What brings you to Aurora Grove? You are obviously not from around here.”

“No, definitely not. I’m from England. I live in Chicago now. I…”

“You’re the one who ended up in the ditch. Louis’ stranger.”

“Oh good God,” Louis mutters.

“Is that what I’m known as?” Harry asks with a smile. “I guess it’s better than the deranged killer.”

“Who called you that?” Lottie asks.

“Liam,” Louis answers. “They’ve been watching Criminal Minds again it seems.” He raises an eyebrow when he sees the way Fizzy is watching him. “What?”

“Nothing, you just seem different from the last time I saw you.”

“The last time you saw me I had just gotten out from under your car and was covered in grease.” He looks over at Harry when the man makes a noise and drops his phone.

“Sorry,” Harry mutters. He leans down and grabs his phone, wiping the screen on his jeans.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Harry waves him off. “Clumsy.”

“Okay.” 

“Oh, it’s almost time,” Fizzy says. She smiles at her brother. “Come on, we have to get up there.”

Louis lets his sisters move up to the rest of the family before looking at Harry again. “Well, they weren’t too bad,” he says.

Harry grins as he steps up beside Louis. “It’s nice how close you all are.” He looks down when Doris taps his leg. “Well, hello there, beautiful.”

“Will you pick me up?” Doris asks.

“Dot…” Louis stops when Harry lifts the young girl.

“I sure can,” Harry says with a smile. “Since Achoo can’t keep you warm, I suppose I’ll just have to.” He winks at Louis as he shifts Doris so she can see the gazebo better.

Louis’ stomach flips at the sight. He can’t remember the last time Doris did anything like this with someone new. Even then, it wasn’t like this. What is it about Harry? Of course, he can ask the same question for himself. He’d taken a day off work to spend time with a complete stranger. Sure, they were slow, but he could have found something to do. There’s always paperwork. Instead, he told Liam that he was leaving for the day.

“Welcome, everyone.”

Louis looks up toward the gazebo where the mayor is standing. It’s like this every year. She’ll get up, welcome everyone to the annual lighting, and then talk about some of the festivities before stepping away for the lights. 

“All right, are we ready? Here we go. Ten… nine…”

Louis smiles at the sound of Harry and Doris counting down. He smiles as he glances over to watch them. He doesn’t even care that he misses the lights coming on. To see Doris and Harry beam up at the lights. Just like every other year, the town starts singing ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Louis jumps a little when someone nudges him. He frowns when he sees Dan standing beside him.

“Your Mom came home raving about the stranger you brought into the diner today,” Dan says. “Seems Doris is just as fond of him.”

Louis nods. “I’d say so.” He glances over to see Harry now talking with Lottie and Daisy, with Doris still in his arms.

“Can’t say I’ve seen you look at anyone like this.”

“Dan…”

“Don’t tell me you aren’t looking at him as anything. I know what I saw. So what’s the issue?”

“I barely know him.”

“So get to know him.”

“He’s not staying. He isn’t supposed to be here. He lives in Chicago, got turned around on his way to St. Louis, and ended up in a ditch.”

“Louis, it’s okay to want to know him. You know that, right?”

Louis nods. “I do know that.”

“I’m going to quote one of your crazy friends. Fate.”

Louis laughs softly. “Have you been talking to Liam today?”

“No, why? Has he told you the same thing for this situation?”

“He has.” He sighs as he looks over at Harry once again. “I just don’t want to get hurt.”

“While I understand that, you can’t run from everything either.” Dan squeezes Louis’ shoulder. “Sometimes you have to just drop that brick wall.”

Louis nods and watches Dan walk back over to Jay. He lets out a heavy breath before walking over to Harry. “Well?” he asks. “What’d you think?”

Harry beams at him. “It was amazing,” he answers. “It’s beautiful.” He looks at Doris. “Doris made sure I knew exactly where to watch. Didn’t you, Dot Dot?”

“Yes!” Doris exclaims. “Achoo, Harry’s nice. I like him. You keep him.”

Louis lets out a nervous laugh. If only he could. Why is he even thinking that? He barely knows this man. “Doris, I can’t keep Harry. It’s not like a toy.”

“You could still keep him. Like Lili keeps Ni.”

“Like Lili… where do you hear this stuff?” He looks at Jay when she walks over. “Your daughter is a menace.”

“Which one?” Jay asks.

“Take your pick. But currently this one.” He pokes Doris’ side, smiling at her giggle.

“Mommy, tell Achoo to keep Harry,” Doris says.

“Oh Doris,” Jay says with a laugh. She reaches over, taking her youngest daughter from Harry. “Let’s leave the boys to themselves. Besides, if you want to skate, we should get going.”

Harry looks over at Louis after Jay walks away. “Skating? As in ice skating?”

Louis nods. “Yeah. You wanna go?” He watches Harry wrinkle his nose. “We don’t have to.”

“I’ve never been ice skating before. I’ve always wanted to try though. I don’t have skates.”

“They have them. Come on, we can head over now.”

“Do you do this every year? Not the town, but you.”

Louis nods. “Yeah.” He shrugs. “Even when I was a teenager and Mom told me I didn’t need to anymore, I still wanted to. I didn’t always come with the family.”

“What’s your favorite part?”

“Going home and sleeping after the girls tire me out.” Louis smiles at Harry’s laugh. “I don’t know, really. I can give you a reason for each part.” He gestures over to where his family is. “Plus I get to see their faces through it all.”

“They’re lucky to have you as a big brother.”

“Well, I don’t know about that.”

“I do.” Harry nudges Louis. “Take it from a little brother, it’s these little things they’ll remember.”

“Is that what it’s like with you and Gemma?”

Harry nods. “Mostly. We’re closer in age, so it was a little different. Especially compared to Dorris and Ernest. I didn’t see him with you, but I’m guessing it’s the same.”

“He’s confused by me right now. Doris went through it last year but that’s passed. I think it’s because they know who I am. They know I’m their brother, but I’m not at home like the others are. Lottie and Fiz have moved out now, but they were still there before. I was moved out when they were born. So he’s at that stage right now.”

“That’s rough.”

“If it’s anything like Doris, it won’t last. He’ll be okay.”

“I mean for you too.”

Louis grins as he shrugs. “Yeah, I suppose. But I understand.” He gestures ahead of them. “You can get skates here.”

Harry nods. “Um…” He’s thankful when Louis helps him get a pair. He can see a couple of different styles and wouldn’t have known how to pick without Louis here. “What about you?” he asks as they walk away from the counter.

“I have my own skates. Well, as long as Mom just grabbed the entire bag.” Louis leads them over to where his family is. “Mom…”

“In the bag,” Jay says.

Louis leans over and kisses her cheek. “Thank you.” He grabs his skates from the bag before walking over to where Harry is now sitting.

“I’m going to fall on my ass,” Harry mutters.

“I will do my best to keep you on your feet.” 

“Much appreciated.”

“Boo, we’ll see you out on the ice,” Jay says.

Louis looks at her. “Okay. Don’t knock Daisy down this year, okay?”

“You make it sound like I did it on purpose.”

“I know you didn’t. You just took away from me purposely knocking Phoebe over.”

“Louis William…”

Louis laughs softly as he watches his family step out onto the ice. Only then does he look at Harry. “You ready?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” Harry answers. “I just found out you purposely knocked your sister down.”

“Yes, but my sister knows how to skate. I would never push anyone over that doesn’t.”

Harry laughs as he stands up. “Good to know.”

Louis stands up and makes his way over to the ice. After stepping out, he turns and looks at Harry. “I’ll stay with you.” He watches as Harry finally takes a step out onto the ice. He holds his arms out in case Harry starts to fall right away. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s seen it happen.

Harry wrinkles his nose as he moves forward. Without thinking about what he’s doing, he reaches out and grips Louis’ forearms. He continues staring down at his feet as he moves forward again.

“Don’t focus on your feet. Look at me.” It’s a bad idea. Louis shouldn’t have said that. However, he can’t bring himself to care when he sees the green eyes he’d dreamed about the night before about lift up. “There you go. Keep following me.”

Harry simply nods. He stumbles a little but manages to stay on his feet. Of course he’s still holding onto Louis. It’s likely the only reason he is.

“He’s going to be a natural,” Daisy says as she skates by.

Louis smiles at the comment, never turning his gaze from Harry’s. “Ankle’s straight.”

Harry frowns at him. “How do you know they aren’t?”

“You’re hunching.”

Harry wrinkles his nose as he shifts to straighten his ankles again. He hates feeling so uncertain. Normally he would never let himself get this far.

“I’m keeping you from having fun,” he finally says.

“I am having fun,” Louis responds.

“Liar.”

Louis snorts. “I have no reason to lie.”

They’re about halfway around the rink when someone passes by them too quickly, causing Harry to flinch and fall forward, landing in Louis’ arm, wide-eyed.

“Whoa,” Louis says, tightening his hold around Harry when he slips again. “I got you.”

Harry nearly whimpers at not only the comment but the way Louis is holding him up with ease. This is what had been missing with Keith and Keith is bulkier than Louis. Not that this means anything. 

“You okay?” Louis asks once Harry is standing again.

Harry nods. “Yeah, sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.” He smiles when Harry lifts his gaze again. “Ready to go again?”

“Yeah.”

Harry grins as they start gliding over the ice again. He won’t admit that having Louis in front of him has given him a level of comfort. The comfort lifted moments ago when Harry was in his arms. The thought of it makes Harry stumble, only this time he does fall right onto his backside. “Fuck,” he mutters.

Louis holds his hand out. “You all right? You looked dazed before you even fell.” He helps Harry to feet.

“I’m fine. Just thinking about things I shouldn’t be.”

Louis nods. “Want to stop?”

“No, absolutely not. I’m going to make it around the rink at least once without assistance.”

Louis watches him as they start skating again. This time, Louis falls into stride beside Harry instead of staying in front of him. He has to wonder what Harry had been thinking about to make his eyes glaze over the way they had.

“You can’t possibly be enjoying going this slow,” Harry mutters.

“I don’t mind,” Louis says with a soft laugh. 

“You’ve had more than just here on skates, right? I mean, it’s obvious.”

“I have. I played hockey for ten years. Even after that I still skated.”

Harry nods a little. “Hockey? Why’d you stop playing?”

“I got hurt. Got tangled up with a kid from the other team. Ended up hitting my knee on the goal post and then went into the boards.” Louis hadn’t meant to actually tell Harry what had happened outside of getting hurt. He hadn’t asked that. But he just couldn’t stop talking.

“So it was bad?”

Louis nods. “Yeah, I would say so. I had to have three different surgeries. It’s fine for the most part. If I’m doing too much it’ll let me know. But I’m fine. It sucked giving hockey up but not the end of the world. I was never to go play professionally or anything.”

Harry takes a quick look over at him. “But ten years is a long time to just lose it like that. What about the other guy?”

“He’s fine. Was banged up but back on the ice for their next game.”

Harry frowns. “Wow, some luck.”

“Hmm…” Louis never really thought of it like that. But he supposes it was. “What about you? Play any sports?”

“I like to think I can play football… um, soccer. But I really can’t. I don’t have the coordination. The fact that I’ve only fallen once here is amazing.”

Louis sees Lottie and Fizzy skate by, both smiling at him. He rolls his eyes at the way they continue to watch him. “So outside of work, what do you do?”

“I enjoy baking and cooking. Probably sounds weird, but I do. I just don’t get to do either much. Not a ton of fun baking and cooking for myself. My friends and I get together and I’ll cook then. Okay, I need to stop.” He makes it over to the wall.

Louis comes up to a stop beside him. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Harry nods. “Just need to settle myself before continuing.”

“You’re doing good.”

Harry grins. “Thanks. So what about you? What do you do outside work?”

Louis shrugs as he looks out at the other skaters. “Pretty much what I do at work. I work on cars. My buddy and I are rebuilding a 1972 Dodge Challenger. So we basically hang out in my garage doing that. Well, him and I do. The others just come and hang. Always music playing. Probably why we haven’t finished with the car because we end up jamming then.”

Harry smiles. “Nothing wrong with that. Do you play anything?”

“A little piano. Nothing fancy or anything.”

“I play a little guitar. Taught myself a few years back.”

Louis looks at Harry again. “Didn’t catch on to guitar. I do own one and I can play a couple chords. But I’ll leave that to Niall.”

Before either of them can say anything else, Daisy and Phoebe are stopping in front of them. Louis doesn’t have to ask to know what they want. He smiles at them.

“You’re really going to try again?” he asks.

“Yes,” Phoebe answers. “If you can?”

He looks at Harry. “Excuse me for a minute. I have to go beat my sisters at a race.”

“I think I’ll just hang here,” Harry says with a soft laugh. He watches as the three siblings move to an open spot of the rink. He smiles when they start skating toward where Lottie is standing. It doesn’t take long for Louis to get ahead, leaving the twins behind easily.

“Victory!” Louis exclaims with his arms over his head. 

Harry laughs softly. He looks around to make sure no one is near before he pushes himself off the wall. He skates toward where Louis is standing with his sisters. He keeps it a slow pace, but he makes it without falling.

“Why do you let Doris and Ernie win?” Daisy asks.

Louis smiles when he sees Harry approaching. “They’re five. Hey, Harry.”

“I made it without falling,” Harry says with a smile. “And I see you’re being a gracious winner.”

“Of course.” Louis moves closer to Harry as his sisters skate away. “Want to keep going?”

“I think I’m up for going around a couple more times.” He points at Louis. “I am not racing you.”

Louis laughs softly. “Come on.”

******   
  
Harry sits down on the couch as he watches Louis get the fire started. He wonders if he’ll be able to call Kacey soon without Louis around. He wants to talk about what happened out on the ice rink. However, there’s no way he can call her with Louis still out here. And it’s definitely a conversation that needs to be more than just texting. He chews on his bottom lip as Louis stands up. He should look away, but he can’t. Not when he can see Louis’ shirt lifting up ever so slightly. It doesn’t last as Louis tugs it back down, but he was able to see a sliver of tanned skin.

He looks down at his phone when he sees Louis turn and make his way over to the couch. He knows he’s blushing and he can’t let the other man see that. “Thank you for letting me join you tonight,” he says.

Louis sits down on the other end of the couch. “You’re welcome,” he says. “I’m glad you had fun. At least… I think you did.”

Harry looks over at Louis. “I did.” He jumps a little when his phone signals a new text message. “Sorry.”

“No problem.”

_ Harry, I miss your face! _

Harry smiles at Kacey’s message.  ** _Did you read my mind? Was just thinking about you. Need to talk but can’t now. I’ll try to call later. _ **

“If it’s okay with you, I’ll bake in the morning.”

Louis nods. “Of course. I don’t know what you’ll need for sure, so just take a look around for anything you need.”

“Are you going to help me bake?”

Louis shakes his head. “You probably don’t want me anywhere near the kitchen when you start.” He smiles at Harry’s laugh. He hates to admit this, even to himself, but he’s grown attached to the laugh. How is that even possible? He barely knows this man. “I can attampt to help decorate them. Probably won’t be pretty, but it would be better than my baking.”

Harry looks at Louis and smiles. “You could probably learn.”

“Probably. Mom gave up a long time ago.” He shrugs. “I keep myself alive, so I can’t complain too much.”

“That’s good. Because if you weren’t here, I don’t know what would have happened to me.” Harry gives Louis a silly smile. He’s about to say something else when his phone signals a new text message. “Sorry.”

“Stop apologizing for people texting you.”

_ You need to call… I must know what’s going on. _

Harry wrinkles his nose as he reads Kacey’s text. He’d give anything to be able to call her now. But there are two problems. Louis is still beside him. And in order to call it would mean leaving Louis. He’s not ready for that.

** _You need to chill. I’ll call when I can._ **

“Everything okay?” Louis asks.

Harry nods. “Yeah. My best friend checking on me again.” He smiles as he looks over at Louis again. “This is going to sound strange, but we usually talk every night.”

“Not weird at all.” He gestures down the hall. “I think I’m going to call it a night, though. Have a phone call of my own I need to make. So I’ll go take care of that and then hit the sheets.”

Harry nods again. “Okay.” He’s disappointed only because Louis’ going to be leaving. “I think I might head outside. If you don’t mind?”

“Go for it.” Louis gestures toward the fire. “If you need help with that, just let me know.”

“I will. Thank you.” He watches Louis stand up, his stomach dropping slightly knowing what this means. Maybe if he’s lucky, they won’t be able to deliver the parts needed for his car. What is he talking about? 

“Goodnight, Harry.”

“Goodnight.”

Harry waits until Louis’ been in his room for a few minutes before making his way outside. He settles on the mattress as he calls Kacey. He’s probably crazy for being out here tonight, but he wants to be as far away from Louis as he can right now.

“Hey, stranger,” Kacey answers.

Harry smiles. “Hey.”

“So what do you need to talk about? It’s been eating at me all night. Are you okay? Do I need to come out there and hurt someone?”

He has to laughs softly at Kacey’s worry. “Kace, I’m fine. I went ice skating tonight.” He closes his eyes as he thinks about it all over again. 

“That’s it?” Kacey sighs. “Come on, Harry.”

“No, there’s more. I just… it’s stupid.” He’s already regretting bringing anything up to her. It’s ridiculous.

“Let me be the judge of that. What’s going on?”

Harry chews on his bottom lip. It’s too late now to back out of talking. Kacey will be able to get it out of him no matter what. So he might as well just get it over with. “I fell… no… I almost fell. Louis caught me before I could actually fall. And like… everything that was missing with Keith came in one moment with Louis. The way he held me up. I could see it, Kace.”

“Oh…” Kacey is surprised. Not that Harry blames her. “It’s completely different from what I figured. I thought you’d tell me you slept with him.”

Harry groans. “Don’t even say that. Because… how amazing…” He blushes as he starts thinking about what it would be like. He shouldn’t be thinking about this. He barely knows the man.

“Harry, what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. This is ridiculous. I don’t… I barely know him. But he’s… so much more than Keith. In a matter of twenty-four hours… Kacey, this is stupid. What the hell am I doing?”

“You need to think about everything. You’ll be leaving there soon. What about then? What happens then?”

Harry stares down on his free hand and sighs. “I don’t know. Nothing’s going to happen so it doesn’t matter. It’s ridiculous that I’m even thinking about this.”

“It’s not ridiculous, Harry. You’re attracted to him. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Maybe not. But it can… it’s always the same thing, Kacey.”

“Is this about Keith?” Kacey sighs. “Harry, stop it. Not everyone is like Keith. If he couldn’t get over the fact that you’re taller than him then that’s his problem.”

“It was just that, Kace. It was everything.”

“No, not everything. He couldn’t get over the fact that you prefer to bottom. I can’t believe you stayed with him as long as you did.”

“I know.” Harry wrinkles his nose. “These feelings I’m having right now… I can’t have them. Like you said, I’ll be leaving soon.”

“I know I said that, but I also know you.”

“Before calling you I had a dumb thought about them not being able to deliver the parts for my car tomorrow. Louis said it was a possibility with the weather. But it’s stupid.” Harry looks out toward the yard. “It’s snowing now.”

“So maybe that’ll happen.”

“Maybe.” Harry wrinkles his nose. “I think I’m going to head to bed.”

“Good plan. Call me tomorrow.”

“I will. Love you.”

“Love you more.”

Harry ends the call after they say their goodbyes. He lets out a heavy breath as he looks out over the snow. “What have you gotten into, Styles?”


	2. Chapter 2

Louis leans back in his seat after getting off the phone with the parts company. It’s not the news he’d wanted to hear. Okay, that’s not completely true. This news means that Harry won’t be leaving just yet. However, he knows that Harry will be disappointed. He looks over at the sound of a soft knock on his door.

“Well?” Liam asks.

“They’re stuck,” Louis answers. 

“That means your deranged stranger will be staying.”

Louis laughs softly. “Something tells me my deranged stranger won’t be happy.” He shrugs. “I guess I better let him know. How’s the rest of the day look?”

“We’re clear. I just finished with Mrs. Archer’s oil change. That was the last of it.”

He nods. “Li… take the rest of the day off.”

“What are you going to do?” Liam leans against the doorjamb as he continues to watch his best friend.

Louis smiles. “I’m going home to decorate cookies.” He isn’t surprised by the look Liam gives him. “Harry was baking cookies this morning.” He smiles again. “I’m going to go decorate them with him.”

“You do that. I think I’ll go surprise Niall with lunch.”

“That’s a good plan.” He stands up. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll worry about everything later.”

Louis slips out of his boots once getting back to his house. He smiles at the sound of Harry singing softly in the kitchen. It’s a sound he could get used to. He frowns at the thought. He shouldn’t be thinking about this. He walks into the kitchen, smiling wider at the sight of Harry dancing in place as he stands at the counter.

“Hey,” Louis says.

Harry turns around and beams. “Hi!” he exclaims. “I didn’t expect you to be home so soon.”

Louis grins. “We closed up early. Not much going on. Which brings me to some bad news.” He watches the smile fall from Harry’s face and it nearly breaks his heart to see. “They’re snowed in. So are we, honestly. The roads going anywhere aren’t good. Which pretty much means, you aren’t getting to St. Louis before Christmas.” He watches Harry’s smile return. He’d expected to see him become upset. Instead, the man appears to be happier than he had been.

“Okay.” Harry gestures toward the counter. “You wanna help decorate cookies?”

“Um… yeah, of course. Just don’t expect anything pretty.”

“As long as you have fun.” Harry turns back toward the counter. He points toward the frosting. “Take your pick.”

Louis steps over, smiling at the sight of the sweater and vest shaped cookies. “Okay, so this works out well. I can definitely get behind the ugly sweater cookies.”

Harry laughs softly. “I saw the cutters at the store and I couldn’t help myself.” He watches as Louis takes the pastry bag with the green frosting. “I um… kinda stalked you on social media. I hope you don’t mind.”

Louis smiles. “Not at all. I haven’t looked at my phone, otherwise I would have already accepted and followed back and all that.” He glances over at Harry. “I figured you’d be upset.”

“Upset? Why would I be upset?”

“I can’t get your car fixed until after Christmas. You won’t get to St. Louis.”

Harry shrugs. “Truth is, I was only going to St. Louis to get away. I was supposed to be spending my holidays with my boyfriend and his family. And then I wasn’t. I was going to be alone. And now? Well, I mean, I’m sure you have your own plans with your family, but…”

“You can come.” It’s out of Louis’ mouth before he can stop himself. “I mean… you’re welcome to join me… us… if you’d like.” He shrugs. “Christmas Eve I’m going to Liam and Niall’s. There’s a group of us that always get together. Eat, play games, tell embarrassing stories that we all already know.”

Harry smiles. “Those are the best, though.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.” Louis shrugs. “It’s what we do. I’m sure we’ll end up singing too. It’s never planned, but it happens.” He holds his cookie up. “It’s horrible.”

“It is not. They wouldn’t mind a deranged killer tagging along?”

“Course not. You’ve already met Liam. He likes you.” Louis looks over at the cookie Harry is decorating. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Apparently drive in snow.”

Louis laughs softly. “That could have happened to anyone.”

“Guess so.” Harry grins. “So what do you do on Christmas?”

“Go to Mom’s. Spend it with the family. It’s loud and crazy, but we have a blast.” Louis holds up his finished cookie. “Horrid.”

  
“It’s not that bad.”

Louis pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Come on, we need to get a picture.”

“Sure.”

Louis moves to lean against the counter after taking their picture. He makes sure to accept all of Harry’s requests on his social media accounts before posting the picture, making sure to tag the other man. “But you’re welcome to come to both. Don’t feel like you have to, though. If you don’t want to go, that’s fine. You have free reign here.”

Harry smiles. “I’ll think about it. I appreciate the offer.” He leans against the counter beside Louis. “Any special things tonight with the family?”

“No.” Louis shakes his head. “Girls are probably at Dad’s finishing up wrapping all their gifts.”

“Have all yours wrapped?”

Louis snorts. “It’s not Christmas Eve, yet.” He smiles at Harry’s laugh. “Have something in mind you want to do?” He can see Harry’s cheeks redden at the question.

“Think we can go ice skating again?”

“Of course.” Louis nods. “We can definitely do that.” 

“I’ll try not to fall this time.”

“You didn’t fall last night.”

“Thanks to you.”

Louis shrugs. He can’t help but think of the way Harry felt in his arms. He wouldn’t mind having him there again. He turns away quickly. _ You can’t think of that. _

“When’s a good time to go where I won’t embarrass myself any more than I did last night?”

“For never being on skates before, you did pretty good. Stop being so hard on yourself. I’m eating a cookie now.” He takes a bite as he looks over at Harry again to find him watching him. 

“Well?”

“Don’t tell my Mom, but these are the best cookies I’ve ever had.”

Harry grins. “Glad you like them. Now answer my question.”

Louis chuckles. “Wanna go now? Still early enough that there shouldn’t be too many people there.”

“Okay. And then I’m making dinner tonight.”

“Harry…”

“I’m making dinner.” 

Louis has to smile at the way Harry looks at him then. “Okay, you can make dinner.” He gestures toward his bedroom. “Let me go change and we can head out.”

“I’ll be ready.”

Louis watches Harry step out onto the ice. He can still see the tension in the other man, but it’s less than it had been the night before. When Harry starts skating away from the entrance, Louis steps onto the ice. He smiles as he watches Harry continue to move ahead of him.

After making it around the rink a few times, they come to a stop at the wall. Louis watches Harry lean against the wall as he steps in front of him. Harry smiles when their eyes meet.

“You’re doing good,” Louis says.

“Yeah? I haven’t fallen.”

“You didn’t fall last night.” Louis laughs softly at the look Harry gives him. “Okay, if I wasn’t there, you would have. But the point is, you didn’t.” He lets his gaze fall to Harry’s lips for a moment after thinking about what had happened. He’d made the same mistake yesterday too. At least this time Harry isn’t in his arms. Of course, he had definitely dreamed of those lips.

“It’s much appreciated that you were there.” Harry shrugs. “Probably would have broken something had you not been. Okay, I’m ready to go again.” 

Louis looks beside him as they start gliding over the ice again. “So when you’re at home from the holidays, what do you normally do?”

“Christmas Eve would be at my Dad’s and Christmas day would be at home with Mom, Robin, and Gemma.”

“Robin is your stepdad?”

Harry nods. “He um… passed a couple years ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

Harry shrugs. “Life sucks like that, you know? He helped raise me. I was young when my parents split. Robin had been in my life since I was seven. I was nineteen when they finally got married. I don’t know why they waited so long, actually. But… I stood as best man and even walked Mum down the aisle.” He frowns. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to throw all that out there.”

“No, it’s fine. I was two when my parents divorced and five when Dad came into our lives. I got to be best man at Mom’s wedding to Dan.”

“Can I ask about your biological Dad?”

“I haven’t talked to him in about five years. Even before that, we didn’t have a good relationship. He’s tried making me feel guilty for things, most of which was out of my control anyways. But when he blamed me for changing my name, I had enough. I was seven when my name was changed. I had the option. Honestly? It was me who brought it up.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dad was putting me to bed Christmas Eve. He asked me if he thought Santa was going to bring me everything I wanted for Christmas. I told him the only thing I wanted was his name.”

Harry smiles. “That’s sweet. How sad was it Christmas morning?”

Louis shrugs. “They sat me down after we finished opening presents. Mom asked me if that’s what I really wanted. I told her yes. Pretty sure my exact words were ‘he’s my Daddy, so I need his name’. I was a Tomlinson the following week.”

“That’s amazing.”

“Been a Tomlinson ever since. Wouldn’t change it.”

“And you like Dan too?”

“I do. I was devastated when my parents divorced obviously. I met Dan before the girls did. I pretty much said they would not meet him until I did. He’s a good man though. And Mom’s happy. That’s all I ever want. What about you? I mean, obviously you like your stepdad. You made that clear. But what about your Dad?”

“We’re close. I mean, anyone who knows me will tell you I’m a Mama’s boy. I could try to deny it all I want, but I can’t. However, Dad and I have a great relationship. Because plans had changed this year for the holidays, Dad made other plans, too. But we’ve already made a plan to get together in the new year.”

“That’s good. How long has it been since you’ve gone back home?”

“Last Christmas. Mom and Gemma were here in the summer, though. Dad had planned a trip out back in October, but that didn’t happen. He was in an accident. Nothing bad. He was banged up. But he had a concussion so they wouldn’t let him fly. Of course, I didn’t want him to fly either.”

“So you haven’t seen him since last Christmas?”

“Thank goodness for phones.” Harry smiles a little. “Luckily, I made some good friends since moving over here. So it hasn’t been too bad.”

“You didn’t want to spend Christmas with them?”

He shrugs. “I guess I could have. But I had been so set on just getting away from the city. Besides, it worked out well.”

“How so?” Louis can’t see how Harry thinks it worked out well.

“I’m here. Wouldn’t have ended up here if I stayed to be with them.” Harry nudges Louis but immediately regrets it as he loses his balance. “Fuck…”

Louis tries to catch him, but in doing so he loses his own balance. They both tumble to the ice, Harry landing on Louis’ knee as they do. His eyes widen when he realizes what he’d done.

“Louis… oh God.” Harry struggles to his feet but manages not to fall again. “Are you okay? Your knee…”

Louis waves him off. “I’m fine.” He smiles as he lets Harry help him stand. “Really, I’m okay. You landed on my good knee.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better.” Harry’s about to say something else when his phone signals a new message. He wrinkles his nose as he pulls it from his coat pocket. He’s not surprised when he sees that it’s Kacey. However, he is surprised by the message itself.

_ I’m sorry… go check fb… _

He frowns at the message. Kacey isn’t normally vague about anything. He looks at Louis for a moment before pulling up his Facebook app. 

“Sorry,” he mutters.

“Nothing to apologize for,” Louis says. “Everything okay?”

“I don’t know. Kacey… she’s being vague which isn’t like her. So I just…” He stops midsentence when he sees the picture. His hand starts shaking, making it difficult to read what the caption says. But it’s pretty obvious what has happened. Harry’s eyes burn as the tears form. He has to get away. He can’t let Louis see him like this. “I’m sorry. Excuse me.”

Louis frowns as he watches Harry turn away and move toward the exit. “Harry…” He wants to follow him immediately, but he also saw the look on his face. Harry needs a moment alone. Louis does make his way off the ice, however. He walks over to where they’d left their boots, noting that Harry’s are still there. He grabs both pairs before he walks in the direction he’d seen Harry go. He doesn’t know what happened, but he knows it affected Harry.

Louis finds Harry on the last bench staring down at his phone. It breaks Louis’ heart to see how devastated Harry looks right now. He approaches the other man slowly. “Can I join you?” he asks softly.

Harry looks up, wiping his eyes. “Yeah,” he answers, clearing his throat.

Louis sits down beside Harry, dropping their boots down as he does. “Wanna talk about it?”

“No.” Harry shakes his head. “No, I can’t.”

“Okay.” Louis frowns when Harry holds his phone out. He takes it, looking down at the screen. “Sophie Lee got engaged to Keith Knight.”

“Apparently, I was just someone to keep his bed warm.”

“Oh, Harry…” 

Louis looks at Harry in time to see him drop his arms to his thighs and bury his face in his hands. The moment Harry’s shoulders start shaking, Louis reaches over to run the man’s back. He doesn’t know what to say to help Harry. Is there anything he can say? He wishes he could just tell Harry to get over Keith. The man cheated on Harry and broke his heart. But he knows he can’t say anything like that. Harry had loved the man. In the short time he’s known Harry, spending three years with someone involves love.

Harry looks over at Louis from his position. “Can we leave?” he asks softly.

“Of course,” Louis answers. He nods. “Take your skates off.”

Louis pulls away from the curb. It’s then he knows where he needs to go. It’s the one place he would go he was going through what Harry currently is. Unfortunately, Louis can’t give Harry the exact same thing, but he can give him something.

Harry lifts his head from the window when Louis pulls to a stop in front of a house. He frowns as he looks over at the other man. “Lou…”

“It’s where I go when I am having issues. I can’t say I know what you’re going through right now, but I can certainly guess. And while I can’t give you the exact thing, I can give you this.”

Harry climbs out of the truck. He meets Louis at the front walk before following the man around to the side door of the house. He’s about to ask where they are but Louis is walking inside before he can. He follows him in, closing the door behind him. As he’s about to ask again, he can hear giggles coming from somewhere in the house.

“Come on,” Louis says as he slips out of his boots. He waits for Harry to do the same before leading him through the house to where the noise is coming from. “Hello.”

“Achoo!” Doris runs over, jumping into Louis’ arms.

Louis lifts her, smiling when Jay stands up from her seat. “Hi, Mom.” He kisses her cheek when she approaches.

“I wasn’t expecting you, was I?”

Louis shakes his head. “No.” Before he can say anything else, Jay is looking past him to where Harry is standing. “I can’t give him his own Mom…”

“Say no more.” Jay pats Louis’ cheek. “You’re a good man, Louis Tomlinson. Stay here with the kids.”

Louis turns and watches Jay guide Harry out of the room. He can still see the slight confusion on Harry’s face, but he just hopes this will help in some way. He looks at Doris as he walks around to sit on the couch.

“Achoo, Harry sad?” Ernie asks.

Louis nods. “He is. But if anyone can make him happy again, it’s Mom.” He lets Doris slide off his lap. “What are we watching?”

“Grinch!” Doris exclaims. She frowns as she looks at Louis again. “I don’t like seeing Harry sad.”

“Neither do I.”

Louis isn’t sure how long he’s been sitting when he hears footsteps behind him. He shifts to look back and sees Jay approaching the back of the couch. “Is he okay?” Louis asks.

Jay gives him a small smile. “He will be,” she answers. “He’s hurting right now. After everything he’s been through, I would be too. He’s a good man. Just a little lost right now. Thinks very highly of you.”

“Mom…”

“I’m serious. He’ll be down in a couple of minutes.” Jay walks around to sit down beside Louis. “Is he joining you for everything?”

“I think so.” Louis looks at Jay. “Is that okay?”

“Of course it is.”

“Harry!” Doris runs around the couch and into Harry’s arms.

Louis turns to sees Harry kissing Doris’ cheek. He can’t help but smile at the sight. He frowns at Jay when she laughs softly. “Mom…”

“Achoo, go back! Harry needs to hear my favorite song.”

Harry walks around, sitting on the floor where Doris tells him to. He smiles as she settles on his lap. He glances over at Louis to find him looking at the TV.

“Okay, Dot,” Louis says. “You ready?”

“Yes!”

Harry looks at the TV to see where in the movie they are. He smiles when he realizes what song Doris is talking about. Unable to stop himself, he begins singing softly when the song starts.

_ Where are you Christmas? _

_ Why can’t I find you? _

_ Why have you gone away? _

_ My world is changing, _

_ I’m rearranging, _

_ Does that mean Christmas changes too? _

Louis stares at Harry as he sings. It’s more than just the singing, it’s the way he watches Doris as he does. And the way Doris stares up at him, singing along with him.

“This is a good look,” Jay says softly.

Louis frowns at her. “What? What look?”

“Oh Honey…” Jay smiles at him. “You’re falling.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Louis follows Harry outside a short time later. They don’t say anything as they walk down the sidewalk to the truck. It isn’t until Louis is pulling away that Harry finally says something.

“Thank you.”

Louis nods. “You’re welcome,” he responds. “I won’t ask you any questions about any of it. I just want you to know that if you need to talk, I’m here.”

Harry gives him a small smile. “I appreciate that.”

* * *

  
  
Harry climbs out of the truck, meeting Louis at the sidewalk. “You’re sure they don’t mind?” he asks.

“If you ask me that again, I’m pushing you into the snow,” Louis says. He nudges Harry. “Of course they don’t mind. Come on.” 

“I’m sorry. I just… don’t want to be in the way of you and your friends.”

“Harry, you are my friend.” Louis opens the door and gestures for Harry to walk in ahead of him. Once inside and out of their boots, Louis leads Harry to the living room.

“Tommo!” Liam exclaims. “It’s about time you get here. Guys, the birthday boy is here!”

“Li…” Louis sighs.

Harry frowns as he looks at Louis. “It’s your birthday?” he asks.

Louis nods. “Yeah, it is.” 

“I wish I would have known that.” He jumps a little when someone runs in and jumps on Louis’ back.

“Fuck off, Horan!” Louis stumbles forward with a laugh.

Harry jumps again when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks over to see Liam lift his hands up.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Liam says.

“No, it’s okay,” Harry says. He shakes the man’s hand.

“Glad you came. Sorry we couldn’t get the parts for your car, though.”

Harry smiles. “No big deal. Thank for letting me come.”

“Any time.”

Louis steps over. “Are we the last ones?”

“Nick’s running late.”  
  


“Because of course he is.” He hits Harry’s arm lightly. “This is Niall Horan. Ni, this is Harry Styles.”

“Ah, the famous Harry,” Niall says. Instead of shaking Harry’s extended hand, he steps forward and hugs the taller man. “Sorry, I’m a hugger.”

Harry smiles. “It’s fine.”

“Oh, cute boy.”

Louis snorts. “Really, Julia?”

“Yes, really. When was the last time you brought a cute boy around?”

“This is not just some cute boy,” Niall points out. “This is Louis’ deranged killer.”

“Oh my God,” Harry laughs. “Can we find a new nickname?”

After the rest of the introductions are made, Harry’s thankful he’s good with names with how quickly names were thrown out, he follows Louis into the kitchen to get something to drink. Louis hands him a beer with a smile.

“Sorry about them,” he says.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?” Harry asks.

“It’s not a big deal.”

“I could have made you a birthday breakfast. Or done something.”

Louis smiles. “Well, the thought is appreciated. I don’t like making a big deal out of my birthday though.”

“It’s not making a big deal out of it.” Harry nudges Louis. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.”

When the return to the living room, Harry notices that someone else has arrived. He watches as Louis walks over and hugs the man. The feeling that hits him is one he never expected to happen. He’s jealous. He’d watched Louis hug the other three men without getting jealous. So why now? Why with this man? Why is he jealous at all. He wrinkles his nose at his own question. _ You know exactly why. _

“This is Harry Styles,” Louis says. “Harry, this is Nick Grimshaw.”

Harry steps over and shakes Nick’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Nick.”

“Yeah, you too.” Nick raises an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, but how do you know Louis?”

“He’s Louis’ deranged killer,” Niall announces.”

Harry snorts. “I guess I better just get used to that?”

Louis nods. “I’m afraid so. Harry slid into the ditch by my house the other night. He’s been stuck ever since.”

“Stuck is one way of putting it,” Harry says.

“All right, let’s get the party started.”

Harry stands up a while later after they finish another game. “Mind if I grab another beer?” he asks.

“Go for it,” Liam answers. “Can you also tell the two shitheads that we need them back for the next game?”

Harry nods. “Yeah.” He walks into the kitchen, frowning when he doesn’t see Louis and Nick. He thought this had been where they’d come. He grabs a beer from the fridge and turns around. That’s when he notices the light out the back door. He walks over, stepping outside.

“When are you going to give me a chance?” Nick asks.

Harry’s heart sinks at that. He’s jealous of a man who hates him. There’s nothing between Harry and Louis anyway, so why does Nick hate him? 

“What do you want?” Nick asks once he sees Harry standing there.

“Liam has requested the presence of you two for the next game,” Harry answers. He meets Louis’ gaze before turning and walking back inside. He can hear the other two walking in behind him.

“It’s about damn time,” Maren says. 

Harry sits down again, almost surprised at how quickly Louis is beside him. He looks at the man. “I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he says softly.

Louis shakes his head. “I’m glad you did,” he responds just as softly. “We’ll talk later.”

It’s nearly eleven when Harry and Louis climb into the truck to head back to Louis’. Harry can’t help but watch the other man. It’s difficult in the dark, but he doesn’t care at this point. There’s so much he wants to say. Louis has been nothing but amazing the last few days.

“Keith hated being smaller than me,” Harry blurts out.

Louis frowns as he throws a look over at Harry. “Smaller than you? As in shorter? Or as in…”

“Shorter.” Harry looks out the window. “Apparently tall boys can’t prefer to bottom.” He closes his eyes after admitting that. He hadn’t actually meant to say that part, but it’s too late to take it back now. Unless it was said soft enough that Louis didn’t hear it.

“Hmm…” Louis would give anything to pull Harry against him right now. “Nick likes me. I did go on one date with him a while back. But… I can’t look at him in the light. He’s a friend and that’s it.”

Harry looks at Louis again when Louis pulls into the driveway. “He apparently hasn’t gotten the message.”

Louis laughs softly. “If Keith couldn’t get over the fact that you’re taller but prefer to bottom, he wasn’t man enough to have you.”

* * *

  
  
Louis closes the door behind him after he and Harry walk into Jay and Dan’s house. He smiles at the sound of Christmas music playing. After slipping out of their boots, they walk through to the living room.

“Hello,” Louis says.

It doesn’t take long for everyone to greet the two. Louis isn’t too surprised when Jay pulls him to the side. He glances over to see Harry sit down on the floor with Doris and Ernest so they can show him everything they’d gotten.

“How’s he been?” Jay asks.

Louis smiles. “He’s okay. I don’t know what he told you, but he opened up a little to me last night. I guess we both did. I told him a little about the Nick situation. He told me that his ex is a complete jackass.”

“Louis William…”

“Mom…” How is he supposed to talk about this with his mother?

“You’re talking about how Keith thinks that tall boys shouldn’t…”

“Okay, yes. Now don’t finish that. Please.” Louis rolls his eyes at the way Jay smiles at him, not that he’s surprised at this point. He looks back over at Harry. “Mom, I don’t want him to leave.”

“Then tell him that.” Jay kisses Louis’ cheek. “Go on.”

Louis nods before walking around to sit down on the floor with his youngest siblings and Harry. “Santa was good to you two,” he says with a smile.

“Was Santa good to you?” Ernest asks.

Louis turns his head, meeting Harry’s green gaze. His smile returns as he nods. “Santa was good to me, too.” He looks at his brother. “Show me what you got.”

It isn’t long before Jay announces that dinner is ready. Louis stands up once again, waiting for Harry to stand as well. Without even thinking, Louis rests his hand on Harry’s lower back as they walk to the dining room. 

“I have to sit next to Harry,” Doris announces.

“Then it’s a good thing I need to sit next to you,” Harry says with a smile.

Louis watches Doris beam up at Harry. He wants to see this all the time. Too bad it isn’t possible. He waits until Harry and Doris are seated before sitting down on the other side of Harry. Harry smiles at Louis.

“All right, let’s have a nice dinner with no yelling this year,” Dan says.

“No promises,” Daisy replies with a laugh. “Besides, Louis started it.”

“I did no such thing,” Louis says pointing at his sister.

Louis pushes his plate forward after he finishes eating. He takes a look around the table, smiling once again. This is how he’s always imagined how his life would be. Someone special beside him as they sit around with his family. He glances over to where Harry is still eating. Is it bad that he wants it with a man he still barely knows? Too bad Harry will be leaving in a couple of days. Maybe Jay is right. Maybe he should tell Harry to stay. Or at least talk to him about how he feels. No, he can’t do that. Harry’s life is in Chicago.

After Louis and Harry insist on helping clean up the kitchen, they all gather in the living room again. Louis moves to sit down on the floor once again, smiling when Harry joins him. It doesn’t surprise him when Doris immediately sits down in Harry’s lap.

“Doris…”

“It’s fine, Lou,” Harry says with a smile. “I don’t mind.”

Louis nods. “Okay.”

Daisy and Phoebe pass out the presents like they do every year. Harry looks at Louis when the girls hand him a couple of presents. Louis simply shrugs. Yes, there is one from him, but neither of the packages that were handed to him is it. Jay must have picked up a few things. 

Harry looks at Louis as the others start to open their gifts. “I didn’t expect anything,” he says softly.

“They didn’t anything from you,” Louis points out. He smiles at the blush that creeps onto Harry’s cheeks.

“I couldn’t help it.”

“Neither could we.” Louis nudges Harry. “Merry Christmas.”

Harry beams. “Merry Christmas.”

Louis stands near the front door as they all continue saying their goodbyes. The way Harry has mixed in with everyone in his family is something he couldn’t have planned. He smiles when Harry joins him again.

“Oh, look,” Lottie says. “And here I thought it would be me with someone again.”

Louis frowns as he looks at his sister. “What the hell are you talking about?” He looks up when Lottie gestures above. “Oh…” He looks at Harry who has now realized what’s going on. “Well…”

“Louis, it’s tradition,” Fizzy points out.

Harry looks at Louis and shrugs. “It’s tradition,” he says with a small smile.

Louis nods. “Suppose so.” He turns toward Harry fully. He watches the man step forward and his stomach jumps. What is it about this man? He rests his hands on Harry’s hips as Harry’s hands come up to rest on the sides of his neck.

Harry lets his eyes close the moment Louis’ lips meet his. He’s going to savor this moment for as long as he can. He manages to hold back a noise when he feels Louis’ fingers curl along the waistband of his jeans. _ Don’t read into it, it means nothing. _

Louis pulls back, meeting Harry’s green eyes. He smiles a little before he takes a step back. He blushes when he sees the way his family is staring at them. He clears his throat. “Okay, we’re leaving now.”

Harry takes a shaky breath as he looks out the side window. He waits until Louis has started driving before he starts talking. “When I fell… or almost fell… the look I gave you. It had nothing to do with the fact that I almost fell. It was all because of the way you held me. While I may be taller, you definitely took…” He trails off, never looking over at Louis. “That’s what had always been missing with Keith.”

Louis glances over, not too surprised to see that Harry is looking out the window. What’s he supposed to say now? _ Tell him the truth. _ “Harry…”

“It’s fine, Lou. I’m fine.”

Louis follows Harry into the house. The rest of the drive had been made in silence. Harry won’t even look at him. He watches Harry disappear down to the bathroom, flinching when the door shuts with a soft thud. He slips out of his boots before walking into the living room to start a fire. Did he just ruin the short friendship he had with Harry?

“Louis,” Harry says from the doorway of the room.

Louis shifts from his position to look at the other man. “You okay?” he asks.

Harry shrugs. “I’ve known you for such a short time, but it’s like we’ve known each other for so much longer. You… I have never felt this way before. I thought Keith… but then you…” Harry shrugs. “And it’s stupid. Because what do I have to offer you?”

Louis stands up, frowning a little. “Offer me? Haz, it’s the other way around. I’m just a small-town mechanic. I’m…” He shrugs. “I have nothing.”

“That’s not true.” Harry approaches Louis then. “You are such a good man, Louis. If I could be half the man you are…” He shrugs a little. “I’ve never met anyone with a heart like yours.” He reaches up, resting a hand on Louis’ chest. He sucks in a deep breath as he watches Louis’ hand cover his. “You know more about me in three days than Keith did in three years.” He shakes his head. “But…” He lifts his gaze once again. “But I’ll be going back to Chicago in a couple of days.”

Louis nods, squeezing Harry’s hand. “Nothing says we can’t still be friends, right?”

Harry gives him a sad smile as he nods. “Of course we’ll still be friends.”

* * *

  
  
Harry closes his trunk after getting his bags in. He looks at Louis and smiles. “I’m ready for lunch.”

Louis grins. “Good. Mom would follow you out of town if you didn’t come in one last time.”

Harry laughs softly. “Then let’s not make her wait any longer. You want to ride with me?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Harry follows Louis into the diner, smiling when he sees Jay immediately walk around the counter. “I couldn’t leave without one more chicken sandwich,” he says accepting the hug from the woman.

“You came to the right place. You two go sit. I’ll get your orders in.”

Harry sits down across from Louis. “I know I’ve already said it, but I just wanted to say thank you again. For everything. You turned what could have been a complete disaster into something very memorable. I will never forget this.”

Louis smiles. “Neither will I. If you ever want to get lost again, come out this way.”

Harry laughs softly. “I will. Maybe I’ll keep my car out of a ditch this time.”

“That’s probably wise. It’s not like we’ll never talk again. You stalked me on every social media available. We’ll talk.”

Harry nods. He smiles at Jay when she sets their drinks down. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Food won’t be long.” She pats Harry’s cheek. “I’m going to miss this smile.”

“Mom…” Louis rolls his eyes. However, it’s something he’d already been thinking about. Of course, he’s sure his reasoning for missing the eyes are very different from Jay’s.

They eat in comfortable silence. Harry never thought he could actually enjoy silence like this. But with Louis, it’s special. _ You sound ridiculous. _

Before he knows it, they’re finished eating. He can’t prolong the leave any more than he already has. He stands up, pulling his wallet out.

“Put that back,” Jay says as she walks over.

“Jay…” He laughs softly when he gets a look. “All right. Thank you.” He hugs the woman one last time. “Thank you for letting me join you for Christmas.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” She pulls back and smiles at him. “Careful driving home.”

“I will.” He looks at Louis then. “Ready?”

“I’m going to hang here for a bit before heading back to the garage.”

Harry nods. “Okay.” He gives him a small smile. “Thank you again.” He steps forward, wrapping his arms around Louis in a tight hug. _ Tell me to stay. _

“You’re welcome.” Louis only pulls back when Harry makes the first move. “Text me when you get home so I know you got there safely.”

“I will.” Harry’s about to take a step back, but he hugs Louis again instead.

“You need to go. It’s already going to be dark by the time you get home.” Louis curls his fingers along Harry’s lower back as he pulls back. “Go.”

“I’m going.” Harry pulls his coat on again. “I’ll see you, Lou.”

Louis nods. “Bye, Harry.”

_ Tell me to stay. _

It’s a blur as he drives. Not that he’s really surprised. He’s too busy thinking about Louis. Not even just Louis. Everyone he met in Aurora Grove. Sure, his group in Chicago is amazing. Even just his acquaintances. He’ll always love Chicago. But the people of Aurora Grove made him feel like family from the very start. Even as Louis’ deranged killer. 

Harry pulls to the side of the road when he feels tears burning his eyes. He can’t go home… he can’t go to Chicago. Not now. Not yet. Not until he knows for sure.

Louis sits up from the mattress when he sees headlights turning into his driveway. He raises an eyebrow as he pulls himself up. He hadn’t been expecting anyone. When the headlights shut off, his heart soars. He puts his cigarette out before walking over to the steps just in time to see Harry walking up the sidewalk.

“Forget something?” Louis asks.

“Yeah,” Harry answers as he steps up onto the porch. “You.”

Louis grips Harry’s coat. “Come ‘ere.”

* * *

  
  
~A Year Later~

Louis stands up after getting his skates on. He smiles when he sees that Harry is already on the ice. He’s certainly gotten better over the last year. He doesn’t look scared this time. Of course, having Anne and Gemma beside him probably helps. Not to mention Kacey, Ed, and Kendall are nearby as well. Or… maybe Harry finally just opened himself up to this side of himself.

“You can’t skate out there,” Jay says.

Louis laughs softly as he steps onto the ice. “You make it sound like I was standing there for ages.”

“I love how happy you are, Honey.” Jay squeezes his arm. “It’s a good look.”

Louis smiles. “Normally I would hate you for saying something like that. But I won’t this time. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I think I need to skate with someone else.”

“Remember there are kids around.”

“Mom…” Louis kisses her cheek before skating around. He spots Harry again easily and smiles. He skates up behind him, sliding his arms around his waist.

“Fuck,” Harry mumbles. “You’re going to make me fall.”

“Never,” Louis says. “And if I do, I’ll make sure to go down first.” They both come to a stop. Louis’ thankful when Anne and Gemma continue on.

Harry turns in Louis’ arms. “I’m better this year.”

Louis nods. “You are. It must be all the time you’ve been spending at the hockey rink with Ernie.”

“Yeah, that must be it.” Harry drapes his arms over Louis’ shoulders. “Thank you for letting my family come out.”

“Harry, you don’t need to thank me. We’re all happy to have them.” He pulls Harry in, kissing him softly.

Harry smiles against Louis’ lips. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

“Pretty sure I can figure it out.” 

“So when are you two getting married?” Niall asks as he skates by.

“Right after you two,” Harry calls after him.

Louis laughs when that stuns Niall enough to cause him to stumble right into Liam. He leans in, kissing Harry’s jaw. “That wasn’t very nice.”

“If I wouldn’t have said it, you would have.” Harry beams at the man.

“Not the point.” Louis pulls him closer. “Do you want to get married?”

“What?” Harry’s smile falters slightly at the question.

“It’s just a question, Baby. Do you want to get married? It’s not something we’ve talked about yet. Is it something you want?”

Harry nods. “Yes. It’s not a deal-breaker if you don’t want to, though. As long as I’m with you, I’ll be happy.”

“Hmm…” Louis smiles as he starts skating backward, pulling Harry along with him. 

“Lou…”

“Would you take my name?”

Harry frowns. “Louis…”

“Harry, would you take my name? Or would I take your name?”

“No… I mean… yes… I mean…” He wrinkles his nose. “I would take your name. But Louis…”

“So will you?” Louis lets his arms fall from around Harry.

“Will I what?” Harry stares at him, confused again as to what Louis is doing.

“Marry me?”

“Lou…” He gasps when he sees Louis pull a ring from his pocket. “Lou…”

“You think I didn’t plan on Niall asking that question?” Louis smiles as he takes Harry’s hand. “So I’ll ask you again.”

Harry covers his mouth when Louis drops down to a knee. This can’t be happening. This isn’t real. This is all a dream.

“Will you marry me, Harry?”

Harry nods through his tears. “Yes, of course I will.” He smiles when Louis slides the ring onto his finger. 

Before Louis can stand up, however, Harry is leaning down and kissing him. Harry stumbles then, causing both of them to fall to the ice. They don’t break away from the kiss, however. Louis curls his fingers into Harry’s curls.

“Is this real?” Harry asks pulling back. “This is real, right? This isn’t a dream?”

Louis laughs as he looks up at Harry. “It is very real.” He rests a hand on Harry’s cheek, letting his thumb travel over his bottom lip. “You don’t have to take my name if you don’t want to.”

“You better believe I’m taking your name.” Harry kisses him once again.

“Okay, knock it off,” Liam says as he comes to a stop by them. “There are kids around.”

“Can we have kids, too?” Harry asks once they’re on their feet again.

“Anything you want,” Louis answers. He slides an arm around Harry’s waist. “Do you want kids?”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Harry wraps his arms around Louis’ neck, laughing softly as Louis starts skating backward again. “We’re getting married.”

**THE END**


End file.
